Tales from the Six Sentence Café & Bistro: When the Crone Came Knocking

Six Sentence Stories is a weekly writers’ challenge hosted by Denise at Girlie on the Edge blog. This week’s cue word is TREE

When the Crone Came Knocking

When the Crone came knocking that day, there were only three proprietors on duty: Denise the Bartender, Ford the Supplier, and Nick the Gatekeeper who let the Crone in without question – Nick perhaps sensing her powers of light as much as the crone could sense his.

Her name was Annfred, and she had time-travelled almost two and a half thousand years into the future to arrive at the Six Sentence Café & Bistro in search of a potion: “I’m looking for a special brew to restore a special bat,” she said to Denise, “it’s a nectar-rich liquid with a musty and fruity aroma, made from the highly fragrant blooms of the Golam Tree.”

Denise, creative enough to serve a drink request for just about any stranger who entered the Six Sentence Café, had to concede that Annfred’s unusual demand required the attention of Ford the Supplier, and she directed the Crone over to Ford who was busy onstage tuning the café drumkit.

Ford, perhaps sensing Annfred’s powers of light as much as the Crone could sense his, told her he could get her exactly what she needed; that the special brew in question lay sealed in a glass jar deep inside a secret room in the cellar of the café, and that Nick the Gatekeeper would be required to open a magical door to retrieve it.

Down in the cellar, Ford led the Crone to the secret room, while Nick made incantations at the magical door with words spoken in a language no one had ever heard before; his hands weaving spells which drew spirals upon the panels of the door, the spirals transforming then into keys which turned like cogs and made supernatural sounds which reported and rang in the acoustics of the cellar, as the door finally swung open, and Ford hurried into the darkness to retrieve what Annfred the Crone desired.

Two minutes later, back at the bar, Annfred the Crone was delighted with her potion, and she asked Denise what sum of payment was necessary in exchange for the contents of the glass jar; to which Denise, perhaps sensing Annfred’s powers of light as much as the crone could sense hers, replied: “You owe us nothing, dear Crone… this one’s on the house.”

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When the Crone Came Knocking written by Ford 21 April 2022

Annfred the Crone artwork by Ford, 21 April 2022

Editor’s note: I love trees, so when I saw that this week’s prompt word was ‘tree’ I busily began formulating a deep and meaningful poem along with plans to illustrate it with photographs of the trees and plants where I live. Alas, the miserable weather here stomped its feet all over my photo ideas, so I abandoned the piece. Ne’er mind… instead I’ve written a deep and meaningful story about the ‘magic’ that sometimes occurs inside the wonderful premises that is the Six Sentence Café & Bistro! I’ve illustrated the tale with a drawing and made some digital variations.

Come on down to the café, folks… first drinks are on me!

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Below: random drummer pics… these go out to Denise following a recent chat about drummers and drumming! First pic is me at rehearsals when I lived in the UK. The hat looked cool but never stayed on for long as it was too hot while drumming. I think the studio kit was a Pearl Export (I owned two at various times, along with two vintage Premiers, a Yamaha, and my absolute fave a Tama Swingstar – that was a beauty to play!). Still have all my Zildjian cymbals 😊

Underneath the chair to my right is a beer 🍺 and Psst… got a light? 😁

The second pic is a still from a promo video shot in London. That was a fun day! The kit is a Mapex loaned out to the studio, and I can’t even remember what the cymbals were. Anyway, I guess I did ‘dress up’ once or twice for the drums 😁